The Poetry of Real Life A New Edition, Much Enlarged and Improved. By Henry Ellison |
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THE POETS' JUDGMENT. |
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 | The Poetry of Real Life |  |
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THE POETS' JUDGMENT.
Milton and Shakspear, ye unto the bar
Are summoned, answer to your mighty names!
And, lo! there comes a voice, whose power shames
The thunder into silence, sounding far
Away—and, with his memory like the star
Of morning in its freshness, that proclaims
The day afar, lo! Milton comes: true Fame's
Acknowledged Son, foremost where so few are
Accepted! and he points to things which stand,
Enduring as the mountains, to attest
The labours of his Thought and of his Hand—
Things that, like Holy-writ, make manifest
The will of God, and reverence command,
Labours, whose close was like God's sabbath-rest!
Are summoned, answer to your mighty names!
And, lo! there comes a voice, whose power shames
The thunder into silence, sounding far
Away—and, with his memory like the star
Of morning in its freshness, that proclaims
The day afar, lo! Milton comes: true Fame's
Acknowledged Son, foremost where so few are
Accepted! and he points to things which stand,
Enduring as the mountains, to attest
The labours of his Thought and of his Hand—
Things that, like Holy-writ, make manifest
The will of God, and reverence command,
Labours, whose close was like God's sabbath-rest!
And, lo! a greater voice, upon the ear
Of listening nations hushed, in wonder dumb,
Like music of the far-off spheres, doth come,
And Shakspear next doth at the bar appear:
Whom Fame still follows, ever in arrear:
And points to things which have increased the sum
Of all men's wealth—to thoughts which have become
As household words, and, like the daylight, dear!
Capacious Soul! he thought it not worth while
To mix in politics: but with his pen,
As with a lever, moved the world, to smile
And weep, and taught his fellows to be men!
Well knowing that all differences then,
Which Man could not, sure Time would, reconcile!
Of listening nations hushed, in wonder dumb,
Like music of the far-off spheres, doth come,
And Shakspear next doth at the bar appear:
Whom Fame still follows, ever in arrear:
And points to things which have increased the sum
Of all men's wealth—to thoughts which have become
As household words, and, like the daylight, dear!
Capacious Soul! he thought it not worth while
To mix in politics: but with his pen,
As with a lever, moved the world, to smile
And weep, and taught his fellows to be men!
Well knowing that all differences then,
Which Man could not, sure Time would, reconcile!
| The Poetry of Real Life | |